Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 67.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 666 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Belmont Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 203.2% in the 3rd quarter. Belmont Capital LLC now owns 6,570 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 4,403 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.4% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.0% in the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 9,696 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after buying an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the third quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 78,304 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $21,433,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.36.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $323.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $309.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.